The Men of Iron Minute
by Steve Glick | Director of Marketing Strategy
Fighting Temptation with the Power of Scripture
“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one,” (2 Thessalonians 3:3 NIV).
We’ve talked all week about the advances of the enemy. This depiction from 1 Peter of the enemy as a lion, prowling around looking to devour. But God, as we read in 2 Thessalonians, is faithful and he will guard us from the evil one.
This is a wonderful promise. When you’re resisting temptation, remember God is one hundred percent faithful to you.
God will strengthen you and protect you.
In my story, from Wednesday’s Men of Iron Minute, I was under attack. There was an ever-present war for my soul. But God was faithful in that moment, he strengthened me in a moment of despair and weakness. He protected me from the evil one.
You want to hear something crazy? Something I’m sure you’ve heard before; Jesus himself was tempted by Satan (Matthew 4). How did Jesus combat the advances of the enemy? With knowledge and understanding of the Scripture!
God also promises that he will not allow any temptation to become too great for us (1 Corinthians 10:13).
While God is the one who intervenes to restore us and make us strong, we cannot be bystanders. He calls us to be active participants in the fight. One way to do that is by making God’s Word a priority in your life. Read Scripture, seek to understand it, and use it to thwart the enemy’s advances. Just as Jesus did.
Paul describes the Bible as the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Much like a weapon, it takes practice and an understanding of how to use it for it to be effective.
You can defeat temptation with the truth of the Scriptures.
Jesus was passionately committed to studying the Scriptures. He understood what they meant, what their context was, and the heart behind them. Jesus put Satan in his place with the truth of God’s Word.
Take some time to open up your Bible today. If you haven’t done it in a while or maybe never at all, this is your nudge to start today. Open up Matthew and just start reading. Learn about Jesus and who he was and what he did. That’s a great place to start. So, the next time Satan tries to attack, you will be ready.
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